Knights hope fourth time is the charm

That's what the sixth-seeded Knights (11-1) will be trying to do when they take on top-seeded Canton Central Catholic (11-1) in a Div. III regional final at Crater Stadium in Dover on Saturday.

West Holmes is in the playoffs for the fourth time in school history and can top last year's school-record win total with a victory. More importantly, a win would give the Knights their first trip to the state final four.

While others in Holmes County will understandably be sweating it out up to, and continuing through Saturday's game, West Holmes coach Bob Maltarich said preparations this week have been "business as usual."

That kind of coolness may be just what it will take for West Holmes to get over the hump in the school's first matchup with Central Catholic, a program which is in the postseason for the sixth time and won it all in 1988.

"Naturally, when you get to this point it's going to be tough," Maltarich said. "I think the biggest thing you have to look at is attitude from the mental aspect going in.

"We know that Central Catholic is traditionally a good football team and they're playoff tested. They play an 'up' schedule, they play a Div. I and II schedule, and, of course, we're III and IV. How we approach that aspect of it is going to be important."

After defeating highly-touted McConnelsville Morgan 35-27 in the playoff opener, and then surprising even themselves in dominating a bigger Canfield team 48-20 last week, the Knights should be a loose bunch as they put a nine-game win streak on the line.

"The attitude's been good," Maltarich said. "It's the same it's been since day one and I think that's the thing I like most about these kids.

"They have a business-like attitude and they approach every game the same. I'm not even sure some of them know who we play.

"There's a team out there we have to play against and they go do their best each week and they have fun. That's the way they're approaching it now. Everything's on an even keel. I've said all year that we never get too high and we never get too low, we just play. I think maybe going into the regional finals that's a good attitude to have."

The Crusaders, who are also riding a nine-game win streak, are in their first regional final since falling 18-0 to Manchester in 1997.

Since the two teams suffered their only losses of the season in Week 3 -- West Holmes to Coshocton 30-28 and Central Catholic to Massillon Perry 27-13 -- they've been models of consistency.

Both Maltarich and 28th year Crusaders coach Lowell Klinefelter agree that the team which can continue to tackle and block well, and not make mistakes, will persevere.

"We certainly have a lot of respect for West Holmes," Klinefelter said. "We saw them play at our place last year against the Big Red of Steubenville (a 21-10 loss in the regional semifinals) and they impressed me with the way they played in that game.

"They have a lot of the same kids back and when I've watched them on film they confirm what I already knew -- they are a very good team.

"They execute extremely well on offense. On defense they are big and physical and just do not give up the big play."

West Holmes, which averages 230 pounds a player between the tackles, will have about a 10-pound advantage in the trenches over the Crusaders.

However, Central Catholic makes up for what it lacks in size with speed and just might be the fastest team the Knights, renowned for speed themselves, have encountered.

Maltarich wasn't ready to offer a prediction of how he thought the Knights might match up in the trenches, opting to wait until the hitting begins on the gridiron.

"That's a tough thing to say," Maltarich said. "I never know until we get out there on Saturday night because I'd have never thought we'd push Canfield around the way we did.

"They were big aggressive kids that I really thought we'd have a hard time handling and we didn't. Of course, there have been some games where I thought we'd dominate the line of scrimmage and we didn't. It's a game-night thing."

Long known for producing powerful, bruising runners, the Crusaders feature one of their best collection of burners assembled under Klinefelter.

When Gliatta (6-foot-1, 185) decides to hand off, any one of three more big-play backs might enter the mix. Richard Bulso (5-10, 185), who blocked a PAT kick that sealed last week's 7-6 win over Carrollton, has rushed for a team-high 15 touchdowns and has 783 yards. The leading rusher is Marques Warner (5-8, 180), who has 1,118 yards (8.7 average per carry) and 10 touchdowns. Tony Watkins (5-8, 180) has also been a threat, running for 516 yards and 14 scores.

As any West Holmes fan knows by now, the Knights can deliver the big play with the best of them. Seniors Nolan Mackey (219-for-1,574 rushing, 23 total TDs) and Rod Taylor (175-for-1,414 rushing, 18 total TDs) are the top rushing tandem in school history.

With his strong playoff showing, Mackey has set single-season school records for rushing yards and total touchdowns. Both Mackey and Taylor average better than 7 yards a carry.

Senior quarterback Matt Cohen has completed 67-of-145 passes for 1,486 yards and 14 touchdowns. Defensive backs Colt Phillips and Dan Hiller, along with defensive tackle Brandon Gonzalez, were the top West Holmes tacklers last week.